Appellate Practice and Procedure in California
The Framework
California appellate practice is governed by the California Rules of Court, principally rules 8.1–8.278 (and 8.480–8.500 for the Courts of Appeal). A specialist must know the mechanics cold: the notice of appeal, the record, the briefing schedule, and the jurisdictional deadlines that cannot be extended.
Core Concepts
Notice of appeal. In a limited civil case the notice is filed in the superior court (rule 8.821); in unlimited civil cases it is filed in the superior court but the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction (rule 8.100). The deadline is 60 days from service of the notice of entry of judgment or a file-stamped copy, or 180 days from entry, whichever is earlier (rule 8.104). A cross-appeal must be filed within the same period or 30 days after the first notice, whichever is later (rule 8.108).
The record. Appellants elect a clerk's transcript, a reporter's transcript, or an agreed statement. A settled statement (rule 8.137) is the trap: it requires a motion in the superior court within 30 days of the notice of appeal, and failure to perfect it can doom review of sufficiency-of-the-evidence claims.
Extensions. Rule 8.60 allows the presiding justice to extend briefing time, but jurisdictional deadlines (notice of appeal, rehearing, petition for review) cannot be extended.
Stay and bond. An appeal does not automatically stay enforcement of a money judgment; a bond or undertaking under Code of Civil Procedure section 917.1 is required.
Traps
Questions often test whether a deadline is jurisdictional versus extendable, whether the appeal is from an appealable order (e.g., denial of a motion to quash is not appealable; a judgment following it is), and whether the notice was timely filed in the correct court.
Rule of Thumb
Count deadlines from service, not filing, and remember the 180-day outside limit. If a document is not listed as appealable under section 904.1 or the collateral order doctrine, treat it as non-appealable and consider a writ.